Written evidence: The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee - Inquiry into behaviour change in the context of climate change and the environment

Abstract

1. Executive Summary 1.1. The financial sector has a key role to play in supporting and enabling behaviour change to achieve a societal shift from fossil fuels toward renewable energy generation and infrastructure (REGI). 1.2. Debt-based solutions, such as bonds and commercial loans, alone, are insufficient to fund a timely transition toward REGI and to deliver affordable and accessible energy supply choices for UK households and businesses. 1.3. Evidence from other jurisdictions demonstrates the important role played by equity capital in ushering in energy transitions. 1.4. Evidence from other jurisdictions also demonstrates that tax incentives are effective mechanisms for incentivising equity capital investment in REGI. 1.5. The UK Government has an opportunity to initiate a novel and timely public-oriented private equity scheme that invites members of the public to participate and become equity stakeholders in the UK’s energy future. 1.6. We argue this scheme would facilitate behaviour change by crucially enabling public buy-in for a society-wide REGI transition and leading to a new kind of UK energy democracy.